U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,945 to Fisher, et al., incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference, discloses an inflatable mattress having a series of parallel inner tubes positioned between substantially larger parallel outer tubes. According to the Fisher patent, this structure causes a reclining user to be "partially enwrapped by the mattress" when all tubes are inflated. This enwrapping or envelopment purportedly reduces the tendency of the user to slide off the mattress surface, while having "sections which are inflatable to differing dimensions" supposedly permits creation of "a stable and reclining level surface for the user" even when the mattress is positioned on "uneven land surfaces."
The recreational mattresses of the Fisher patent may include I- or X-beam seals for the tubes as described therein. The Fisher patent additionally illustrates and discloses a "pillow tube" utilizing a separate valve from that used to inflate the parallel inner and outer tubes. It does not, however, detail any separately inflatable components or layers stacked vertically when the mattresses are deployed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,742 to Klearman, while not disclosing any recreational mattress, does discuss a two-component air mattress designed to reduce bed sores and blisters for those persons confined to bed for extended periods of time. Included in the mattress are an inflatable base having openings spaced about its upper surface. These openings characterize the base as a "ventilating" one, which according to the Klearman patent is surrounded by a foam frame for support.
Positioned atop the base of the Klearman patent is an inflatable, quilted mattress pad including upper and lower portions and a layer of down padding therebetween. A zipper may be employed to close the pad, whose upper and lower portions are stitched together in a "generally orthogonal pattern" to form multiple pockets. A single pump pressurizes the air of both the base and the pad, with air escaping the holes of the base inflating the pockets of the down-filled pad "due to the differential air pressure drop across the lower and upper layers of the quilted cover surface." As noted in the Klearman patent (which is also incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference), the quilted pad or cover encloses both the base and its foam frame, thereby precluding any appearance of the pad merely lying atop the mattress base.